A first from my local microbrewery, Reformation: a lager. This is the first lager that I’ve ever had from them, anyway. The beer is called Reformation 95 Munich Lager and I was surprised to see it on tap at my local Taco Mac here in Canton. I’ve never seen it in bottles or cans, but Reformation seems to be doing more specialty brews in draft form. 95 Munich Lager is a dunkles (there is a Munich Helles lager as well).

In these days of a million IPAs, I’m always happy to see a lager, and a soft malty Munich lager is especially welcome. Such beer stress the malt over the hop, and while I adore hops, malt is increasingly playing second fiddle to hops in today’s beers. This cannot stand; malt is the heart and soul of beer.

Reformation says of their 95 Munich Lager:

The story begins with our founders love for church history, and the Protestant Reformation. In fact, early talks about this topic are what inspired the two friends to begin a brewery together and call it Reformation.

Martin Luther, a monk living in the 1500s, had some things to say about the Catholic church–95 of them to be exact. His 95 Theses, a list of statements and criticisms, were nailed to the door of the church in Wittenberg and became a foundational document that inspired the Protestant Reformation. Our CEO Spencer Nix likes to say, “Luther had 95 problems, but thank God beer wasn’t one.”

The artwork for “95” contains exactly 95 dots

So, now you know the background of the beer. Reformation 95 Munich Lager has an alcohol content of 4.7% by volume. It doesn’t have 95 IBUs. I paid $6.75 for a 20-ounce mug at Taco Mac, and that’s about 75 cents more than it should be.

My mug of Reformation Munich Lager arrived a dark brownish color with a thick creamy head of foam and soft chocolate malt in the nose. Taking a sip, I got more of that beautiful lightly chocolaty malt along with toasted nuts in the palate. The Munich malt is really wonderful here.  The beer is smooth malty, clean, and dry and gently bitter in the balancing grassy finish.

Very nicely done! I’ll be looking for Reformation 95 Munich Lager in bottles, or perhaps to take home from the local growler shop. You should too, and if you don’t get reformation beers in your area, move.

 And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

 

 



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